Labour leadership hopeful pledges to appoint north Wales minister

One of the AMs hoping to take over from Carwyn Jones has promised to appoint a cabinet secretary for north Wales if she becomes First Minister.

In a newspaper article Eluned Morgan says there's been a failure to connect with parts of the north in the past compared with other regions.

She also pledges:

• Particular focus on the new Wylfa B nuclear power station on Anglesey to transform the wider economy of the north

• Extra pressure on the UK Government to deliver investment through the North Wales Growth Bid

• Further support for the self-employed

• Improving community transport as well as pushing ahead with plans for a North Wales Metro

These proposals from the Minister for Welsh language and Lifelong Learning will be seen as an attempt to answer concerns that there may not be a candidate from the north when the election takes place in the autumn.

However Eluned Morgan has yet to secure any of the public nominations from fellow Assembly Members that she needs to be on the ballot when Carwyn Jones steps down.

Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford is the only hopeful who has more than the required number. Health Secretary Vaughan Gething is one short. The minister for Children, Older People and Social Care, Huw Irranca-Davies, has said that he hopes to stand but also doesn't have any public nominations.